Urban Decay Decides NOT to Sell in China & Gets Recertified as “Cruelty-Free”

Last month, Urban Decay announced it’s plans to begin selling their products in China, a country that requires animal testing. The move came as a shock to consumers since the brand has taken pride in being cruelty-free from the start. In early June, they were removed from the Coalition for Consumer Information on Cosmetic’s Leaping Bunny Program.

Fortunately, after a lot of backlash from consumers and fans of the brand, Urban Decay has announced that they are cancelling plans to sell in China and will remain animal friendly.

Official statement from their website:

After careful consideration of many issues, we have decided not to start selling Urban Decay products in China. While several factors were important in reaching this decision, ultimately we did not feel we could comply with current regulations in China and remain true to our core principles. We know there are many progressive consumers in China who would embrace an opportunity to purchase non-animal tested products – our hope remains that we have the chance to offer Urban Decay products to these consumers someday in the future.

Following our initial announcement, we realized that we needed to step back, carefully review our original plan, and talk to a number of individuals and organizations that were interested in our decision. We regret that we were unable to respond immediately to many of the questions we received, and appreciate the patience our customers have shown as we worked through this difficult issue.

Since our founding in 1996, we have been committed to ending animal testing in the cosmetics industry. As demonstrated by the renewed support we have received from organizations like PETA and the CCIC, this principle remains at our core. Urban Decay does not test its finished products on animals, nor do we allow others to test on our behalf, and we require our suppliers to certify that the raw materials used in the manufacture of our products are not tested on animals. Urban Decay is proud to be 100% cruelty-free.

The CCIC recertified Urban Decay into their Leaping Bunny programyesterday.

I am a freelance makeup artist in Los Angeles working mainly in print and television. Makeup and traveling are my passion and my heart resides at La Isla De Los Monos Monkey Rescue Center in the Peruvian Amazon.